Nostalgia has plagued the minds of many as we meander through our memories back toward a past that is easier to comprehend than our impending future. One night I went to bed, nineteen, dreamt of a series of tomorrows and woke up twenty-five with a slurry of hazy memories that somehow lead me here. While this piece may not present an optimistic view on the progression of life it may present a smidge of insight on why it feels like we’re hurtling toward our pension at a quickening pace.
Upon my extensive research for writing this (a few online articles and my own wealth of knowledge) I stumbled across the term ‘highway hypnosis’ which, in short, refers to a trance like state which the brain succumbs to when inputting the same monotonous data over and over again. This is common when driving down a highway as your surroundings remain the same prompting the brain to lose its sharp edge. The edges become fuzzy and the lights begin to blur as we continue down the line of monotony. Lights, darkness, lights, darkness, keep on your side of the road, lights. While the movement keeps propelling us the haziness stops us from taking anything else in. No more playing I Spy from the front seat. We simply become slaves to our own disinterest.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
Highways are often emblems of progression in media as we, as a culture, try to grapple with late-capitalism’s pursuit of the new and shiny. They juxtapose freedom with consumer culture disallowing us to ever feel a true sense of escape. Take Hunter Thompson, he centred an entire novel about a drug fuelled fever dream driving down Interstate 15 toward Vegas. He chronicles the persuasion of the American Dream and counterculture but most relevant to this article – the overstimulation of culture. Media has made the local global by expanding our scope of familiarity far wider than it ever could have been before its introduction. Not only have our immediate surroundings become the ‘fuzzy edge’ but also places which we have never been and may never go become fuzzy too. The bombardment of stimulation is making the new known. Our brains are no longer processing our lived experience so all the monotonous moments that we know like the back of our hand such as our walk home and going to the local will most likely become blank space in our memory. A tragic reality to face, I know, but with all of this considered the solution points towards breaking away from routine and giving your brain something new to cling on to.
May I suggest taking up salsa?